


First Day Jitters

by thecompletebookworm



Series: Rumbelle Showdown [12]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Kindergartener!Bae, No Magic AU, Parent!Rumple, Really just Rumple being worried and Belle comforting him, Rumbelle Showdown 2020 (Once Upon a Time), So much Papafire, teacher!Belle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25871011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm
Summary: For as long as he can remember, it's been just him and Bae against the world, but with Bae starting kindergarten, Mr. Gold has to come to terms with the fact he might actually need other people to help  Bae grow up.My entry for Round 1 of the 2020 Rumbelle.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy & Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Series: Rumbelle Showdown [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/246934
Comments: 10
Kudos: 43





	First Day Jitters

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published as part of the anonymous Rumbelle Showdown under the pseudonym Porcelain Elephants. Prompt for the round was: Like tears in rain.

Bailey Gold was incredibly excited to be starting Kindergarten. His father was not. Of course, the lack of excitement didn’t stop Mr. Gold from waking up early to double-check Bae’s choice in clothes or to pack his yellow lunchbox with extra care, adding a short note to remind his son how much he loved him. But Gold was undoubtedly in a somber mood that didn’t match the sunny weather.

“Papa, I’m going to be late,” Bae said as he skipped to the Cadillac.

Considering there were forty-five minutes until class started, Gold seriously doubted that they would be late, but Bae was unable to tell time on the grandfather clock in the foyer and much too excited for his own good.

“I promise Bae your first day is going to be perfect.” 

Bae babbled, reciting everything his shop hand Alice had mentioned about school. Yet Gold wasn’t really listening. Instead he couldn’t help but see how everything was changing, and he didn’t want it too. Since Bae was born, it had been the two of them against the world, with Bae’s mother leaving straight from the hospital. And while the rest of town may see Gold as the evil landlord without a kind word to say, his son was different. Bae was his entire world, the sun Gold revolved around, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do now. 

It is only school, Gold thought to himself, only a few hours every day. It shouldn’t feel like the end of the world, but it certainly did. 

“And Alice said Miss French reads us a new book every day and even has little songs for us to sing and-“ 

Gold pulled their car to a stop. “It seems like you have a wonderful day ahead of you. I wonder if Miss French has something special planned for the first day.” 

Bae scrunched up as his face, his deep thinking contorting his face. “I think so. I mean, it’s the _first_ day, Papa. That’s pretty special.”

“You’ll just have to tell me everything later.” Gold said as he unbuckled Bae’s car seat and lifted his son out of the car, holding him close despite the pressure it put on his bum leg. 

Bae gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I promise Papa. Absolutely-positively everything.” 

Gold was very aware that they were early, both due to Bae’s excitement and his own need for a long goodbye, but he hadn’t expected the school to be so empty. The playground was deserted. A few of the teachers seemed ready with clipboards full of paperwork, but the rest were still chatting amicably.

The two of them had barely been standing there a few moments before a young brunette woman strode forward. 

"Good Morning! Who do we have here?” The women’s blue eyes sparkled as she peered intently at Bae. 

Gold squeezed Bae’s hand, whose own nerves seemed to have momentarily gotten the better of him, but that little reassurance seemed to be enough.

“I’m Bailey Gold! Today’s my first day of Kindergarten!" 

She smiled widely. "Well, isn’t it my lucky day? I’ll be your teacher this year, Bailey. My name is Miss French.”

She bent slightly to extend her hand first to Bae, who shook it tentatively, before shaking Mr. Gold’s hand. Gold was surprised to admit he already liked Miss French, a remarkable feat considering Gold could count the number of people he liked this town on one hand. But Bae already seemed taken with her, and he liked the way that Miss French went out of her way to make Bae feel important.

“Now Bailey when the bell rings, you’ll line up by the basketball hoop with your new classmates,” She said pointing and waiting for Bae’s solemn little nod to make sure he understood this new task.

“But until then, I have to check in with all the parents, and your Dad has to fill out some adult paperwork." Miss French made a face on the word adult that made Bae laugh. "I think now might be a good time to test out the playground equipment if your Dad says it’s okay.”

“Please Papa?” 

Gold leaned more heavily on his cane so he could kneel next to Bae for one last hug. “Of course, Bae. Have fun, and remember I want to know everything.”

Bae squeezed his Papa tightly, before dashing off toward the plastic playground. 

“He seems like a good kid.” 

“Aye. Although if you try to teach the class about dinosaurs or pirates, he might try to take over.”

Miss French laughed. “I’ll be sure to leave the pirate books until next week then to prevent a mutiny.” 

Despite his glum mood, Gold couldn’t help but smile like that. She had a beautiful laugh. 

“Unfortunately, I do have some paperwork for you. Most of Bailey’s information is already on file. Still, we like to double-check it on the first day, especially the emergency contact and vaccination information.”

She handed him one of the clipboards, before leaving to check on the Nolans and their rambunctious daughter. Gold tried to focus on the forms. This was supposed to happen; this was just the next step of Bae’s childhood. He shouldn’t be mourning the lost hours together in his pawnshop. School was what his son needed. Bae was happily running up the steps to the slide, in full view of at least six teachers. And with a task to do, he should be able to just focus on the paperwork in front of him, but the lines of text seemed to blur. 

The fearsome Mr. Gold wasn’t crying. He couldn’t be; it had to be just rain. The fact that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky couldn’t stop that logic. He was so caught up on the fact that he couldn’t be crying in front of Storybrooke Elementary that he didn’t notice when someone joined him. 

“I wish I could tell you not to worry, Mr. Gold, that everything will be alright, and I’ll take good care of Bailey, but I understand that some beginnings are harder than others." 

He could feel the sheer force of her smile despite his stubborn refusal to look up at her, to allow anyone to see the pain lurking inside the lonely man who refused to let the world in. Her heels were much taller than he would expect of someone in charge of wrangling five-year-olds, but her bright skirts matched her sunny dispositions. 

His refusal to look at her did little to deter her. "Most parents cry on the first day. My own brother wept like a baby when he dropped my niece off, and little Grace has known me her entire life." 

"Isn’t that a case for favoritism?" 

Her smile seemed to grow at his response, likely because she had gotten through to him. "I’ll let you in on a secret, Mr. Gold. Storybrooke is a small town, where everyone knows everyone else’s business. If I could only teach children I had never met or knew nothing about, I’d be out of a job. But rest assured in my classroom, the only thing that matters is how the children act on the day to day basis." 

Gold sighed. That was good news. He would hate for Bae to be held accountable for whatever grudge his tenants held against him. 

When her hand touched his shoulder, he realized he said that out loud. “I’m not going to pretend I haven’t heard the rumors Mr. Gold, but based on what I’ve seen, you’re certainly not as dark as people say.” 

Her smile seemed so earnest that he felt his heart leap despite the current situation. “Does it get easier after the first day?” 

Miss French thought for a second. “I’m not sure watching Bae grow up will ever get easier, but it’ll get easier for you to bring him to school. You’ll know he’ll laugh and learn and be ready to come home at the end of the day with stories that you’re not sure actually happened.” 

He didn’t have much time to think about her answer before the bell rang, and the mass of children began to line up by grade at the edge of the playground. He thought about it as he re-polished the silverware in his shop and ate his lunch more aggressively than strictly necessary. And by the time he arrived once again at the school and had Bae wrapped in his arms, Gold thought he understood.

“And Miss French knows _EVERYTHING!_ She taught us a song where we say hello in different languages!” Bae announced, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “I can’t sing it yet but one day I’ll know everything too. I really like Miss French”

“I like her too Bae.” Gold said, despite that being an understatement. He was looking forward to parent-teacher conferences and the next time he could be alone with Miss French a bit too much.

**Author's Note:**

> A depression spiral has prevented me from writing so the other two showdown entries will be up later after some editing (I set them in the same universe so I kind of want to put in the energy to combine them). They're already available on the Showdown tumblr blog with so many other fabulous stories. I recommend checking them out.


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